Evaluation FAQ
- Why hold evaluations?
- Who runs the evaluations?
- Why pre-place players in groups?
- How are players pre-placed in groups?
- How are players evaluated?
- Why do some players have to come to so many evaluations, but others do not?
- My son/daughter was the strongest player on the field, but was still placed in a lower division. Why?
- When will players find out about their team?
- Why are some of the evaluators parents?
- Why use coaches as evaluators?
- Why am I called to evaluate, but not to coach?
Youth soccer players in Saskatoon play indoor soccer in one of three divisions. These divisions are to allow fuller enjoyment of the game by players, with less skilled players placed in an environment where the game is at a slower pace, allowing players to work on unfamiliar skills with some chance of success, and more skilled players in a faster paced game, with higher pressure from the opposition, and more advanced tactics. Evaluations assist in the proper placement of players into one of the three divisions, with the Aurora evaluation procedure to allow fair and consistent evaluations, within the limited amounts of floor time and volunteer time available.
An Evaluation Chair, appointed by the Board, finds volunteer Evaluation Coordinators for each age and gender group, and supervises the evaluations for all groups to ensure they are run correctly. The Evaluation Coordinator's job is to ensure that every player has an opportunity to come to an evaluation session, find evaluators to rate players at each session, coordinate the sessions, tally the results from each session, and contact players who require further evaluations. They also handle equipment for the sessions, supervise the drafting of teams after evaluations, handle questions from parents, and coordinate with the Coach Recruitment committee. Evaluation Coordinators should not be parents of any players in the group they are coordinating.
Why pre-place players in groups?
At registration, a player's initial evaluation time is based upon which group they have been placed in. In this way, players' initial evaluation should be with others of relatively equal skill levels. Placement after the initial evaluation will depend on the results of the initial evaluation.
How are players pre-placed in groups?
Before registrations begin, the Player Placement committee assigns a preliminary group to every player who has played for Aurora in the past, based upon what division the player played at, and upon the evaluations the coaches submit near the end of each season. Players pre-placed in Division 3 generally do not come to evaluations unless they wish to challenge their placement and try out for Division 2. Back to top
Evaluations are typically based on scrimmages, with evaluators being a mix of prospective and/or former coaches for that age group, and independent evaluators. Evaluators are asked to rate each player, based upon the requirements of the Evaluation Coordinator. For example, the Coordinator may be looking for only 5 more players to place in Division 3, to fill those teams to their planned size. Each evaluator has only one vote about where each player should be placed, and a parent evaluator has no vote on their own child, and is asked to leave while their child is discussed.
Why do some players have to come to so many evaluations, but others do not?
Typically, an evaluation coordinator will ask the evaluators at a session to decide which players can be placed in a division after that session, and which players will need to be seen again, likely with a different group of players. Some players will be asked to return to a session with a stronger group of players, and some will be asked to come to a session which may be at the same level, but with a different mix of players. Some players are placed in a division after only one session. A player may also be asked to several sessions, and still be placed in a lower division. >
My son/daughter was the strongest player on the field, but was still placed in a lower division. Why?
Each evaluator at a session has one vote about placement of each player, except their own child. If the evaluators have a majority opinion about placement, and this placement is generally in agreement with the playing history and coach ratings of the player, the player is placed according to the evaluators majority decision.
When will players find out about their team?
After evaluations are complete, the Player Placement Committee reviews and approves the placement list. Upon approval, the Evaluation Coordinator can organize a draft with the coaches. After the draft is completed, the coaches of each team are expected to call their players. This may take up to a week after completion of the last evaluation, so there can be a long period with no information for players, particularly those involved in the Division 3 evaluations, as they generally are at evaluations first. As well, there may be delays in holding the drafts, as there may not be enough coaches at some ages and divisions.
Why are some of the evaluators parents?
Evaluators are a mix of prospective coaches, assistant coaches, and independent evaluators (typically coaches from other age groups). As most of our coaches are parents, many of our evaluators are parents as well. No evaluator is permitted to vote on placement of their own child.
Why use coaches as evaluators?
The objective of the evaluation process is to ensure players are placed in divisions appropriately, and to achieve balance between Aurora teams in the same division. We want our coaches to have the most information possible at the team draft, in order to achieve that balance, and this information about players is best obtained at the evaluations themselves.
Some players do not 'show' well at evaluations, whether because of illness, nerves, etc. If an evaluator (typically a player's former coach) feels that a player is being misplaced, they have the opportunity to speak on behalf of that player, generally to request another evaluation. In the end, however, the opinion of the majority of the evaluators decides placement.
Lastly, evaluations are a very demanding time for many volunteers, with many hours of work required. Finding enough independent volunteers who are not directly involved in an age/gender group is very difficult, with the result that a large group would be evaluated by only one or two evaluators. Prospective and former coaches are much more willing to volunteer to evaluate, and as a result, we can have many more evaluators at a session. This provides a much fairer opportunity for players. Back to top.
Why am I called to evaluate, but not to coach?
The Coach Recruitment Committee provides the Evaluation Coordinator with a list of prospective coaches, who may have coached in the past, or volunteered at registration. The Evaluation Coordinator uses this list to find evaluators. The Coach Recruitment Committee can find prospective coaches before and during evaluations, but cannot finalize the coach list until players are placed in divisions. We frequently end up with many parent coaches in a division with only two teams, and only one parent coach in divisions with four teams. If your son/daughter is in a division which has more coaches than teams, you may be passed over as a coach for the current season.